If I was in that constituency trying to derail Labour, I'd be voting FOR Burnham, knowing he is a liability trying to become PM from his current position outside parliament. Of course not every non-Labour voter will think that way.
As will the greens, going by the results at the General election in 2024 it is certainly going to be an interesting by-election and not an immediate shoe in for any party.
Just say Andy Burnham was elected to serve as Mayor of Greater Manchester until May 2028 and he should serve the rest of his term.
He would be disqualified from being the Mayor of Greater Manchester on becoming a member of the House of Commons (MP). Boris Johnson was both an MP and the Mayor of London for a year as the law allows someone to be both an MP and the Mayor of London.
Yes, see my post above, https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/the-labour-party-under-keir-starmer.272035/post-7642883
I don’t think that Labour, its NEC in particular, sees any benefit in allowing him to stand, and having to contest the mayoral election, which will cost £££££ and either could be lost to Reform.
There's no real "win" for Starmer in this situation, as you say. But obviously the optics of blocking his one realistic leadership challenger are appalling.
www.bbc.co.uk
Given that margin of defeat for Burnham, his supporters don't really have a leg to stand on here. Had he lost by 1-2 votes it might have been a different story.
The margin suggests that the NEC are loyal to the party, it says nothing of opinions on Sir Kier.
Sad we will not get to see that now.
Is water wet? The thing that gets me is that he keeps finding groups of voters who seem to think: "Well every other constituency he's ended up winning he's used simply as a bully pulpit for his own benefit. But maybe we'll be different..."
It is the hope of being different, the hope that by Galloway winning it will bring the constituency into the public attention, that perhaps government will somehow divert resoureces to them.
I think that anyone who cares about Manchester would rather see Burnham remain as its mayor, rather than fight (and possibly lose) a self-serving by-election and compel an election for a replacement mayor.
Some would, some would not.
Andy Burnham's bid to return as MP blocked by Labour ruling body
The Greater Manchester mayor is seen as a potential leadership challenger to Sir Keir Starmer.
I would say regardless of the implications for Manchester it is quite poor optics on Burnham being a chancer with his career rather than being motivated by the greater good for the city.
Absolute rubbish. It’s clear that the actual reason is the NEC is filled with Starmer allies who aren’t going to allow someone to come in and threaten his leadership.
On the optics, if anyone thinks Burnham is anything other than a political chancer motivated by himself then there is something wrong with their thinking. The whole point of elected mayors is that they are politicians. Yes Burnham is from the area, but the whole Bee Network is all about putting himself out there. We had GMPTE long before bees.
More to Reform, who make a bit more sense than the Greens and their 'do what I say not what I do' attitude. Although both options are as appealing as eating poo or drinking vomit.
Agreed on the last part. However, neither party will win the seat. Labour will hold with a reduced majority. The nature of the seat is such that part would go Green and part would go Reform, rather than there being a clear winner.
The two halves of the seat are very different.
